Walking After Midnight
by GhostfaceScylla
Summary: TWO SHOT Sano always KNEW that women, gambling, and doctors mixed about as well as a cat and a canary.... so when he is forced to take on all three at once, things get a little interesting...
1. Default Chapter

HEY MINNA! What do you call a one shot that's two chapters? A two shot? Well this is a two shot centered around Megumi and Sano... very interesting, really. sleepwalking and gambling and the like. Ok, I've talked enough! R&R please, or no chapter 2!!           

            "Evens."

            "Uh. In case you haven't noticed, Mr. Wha'd you say your name was?"

            "Nakamura Jiro." Sano tried to hide his smile. It worked the same way every time; give the guy running the show a fake name, and then when someone came around trying to collect on you, they were always asking for the wrong man.

            "Well, Mr. Jiro, put some money down and we might be able to get this thing going." The dealer held the dice between his fingers and the cup in the other hand, waiting to slam them down and let the gambling begin.

            "I'm honest for it."

            The dealer's eyes became slits. "Right then. Don't think we yakuza won't come around to get our money if you lose."

            "I won't lose."

            "You've lost all night." 

            Sano growled at this. These jerks were here to let _him_ have a good time, not keep a tally on whether he was in the money or not.. Despite the fact that he'd hocked everything but his shirt and his pants and hadn't won a hand all night. No matter, he could feel his luck starting to warm up. You had to lose _something_ if you wanted to win big.

            "I said, I won't lose."

            The dealer nodded and slammed the dice in the cup with one fluid motion. Sano's pulse quickened. It would be evens. It _had_ to be evens.. C'mon, daddy needs a new pair of tabi socks..

            The dealer peeked under the cup and smiled. 

            Odds.

            Damn. Well that was a beautiful ending to a night from hell. He picked up his sake cup and downed the remaining bit, the sparse room beginning to swirl together.

            "Well, Mr. Jiro, wanna go again?"

            Sano stood up shakily. "Hey, I may be a lot of bad things, but I'm no fool. Your dice are rigged. You thought I was too drunk to notice, but half an hour ago, you switched out the fair dice for some weighted ones." Sano smiled. "Am I right?"

            The dealer cocked his head to one side and scowled. He was a little wisp of a man, wiry and resembling a cross between a rat and a human. "Clever, Mr. Jiro. Terribly clever. However, you're not the only one with brains around here, Sagara Sanosuke."

            "How long've you known?"

            "How many 6 foot tall men walk around Tokyo in the middle of the night with a bad symbol painted across their back?"

            The room was starting to _really _blend together now. One drop too much sake, Sano. He leaned against the wall with one hand. "'S me, yours truly."

            "And you, Sagara, owe our house more money than you'll ever be able to repay. Or should I say you, Nakamura Jiro, Takahashi Honda, Yamaguchi Hiroshi, Fujimara Yukio, and any of your other fake names owe us more money than they'll ever be able to repay. Get 'em boys."

            Sano couldn't really see what happened next, but he was pretty sure that all four walls of the little room turned into huge sumo-wrestler type guys. They surrounded him and cracked their knuckles. With the help of Sano's double-vision drunkenness it appeared that an army was closing in on him, and he'd swear later that there were at least 20 of them..but in reality only six figures swayed around him.

             He smiled and pulled one hand out of his pocket. "Now _this_ is the kinda fun I've been waiting for all evening!"

            "Why you little pr-  Uwah!" 

            THUMP. The sound of flesh hitting hard ground rang out across the room. One of the men had tried to put Sano in a headlock and found himself lying belly up sprawled out on the ground like a dead catfish.

            "Hey, I don't mind taking time outta my night to play with you guys, but the next one that even _tries _to touch my hair is gonna end up with a face full of broken teeth."

            The thugs stood there for a minute, taking in the sight of their fallen companion. "You guys! Get him!" The dealer's shrill voice broke their concentration and they all charged on Sano at once.

            "Lets go!" Sano jumped up in the air.

            One grabbed for his waist. THUD! Down on the ground.

            "One!" Sano shouted.

            The next one tried to take him from behind. SMACK! Flattened up against a wall.

            "Two!"

            Another one tried to knock Sano's feet out from under him. PLOMP! Tripped over a chair and had a personal encounter with the floor.

            "Three!"

            Someone's big hands clasped around Sano's neck. UHH! A backwards kick to the groin.

            "Four!"

            Two feet went flying towards Sano's kneecaps. CRRASH! Thrown right into the dealer's table and smacked against the ceramic sake cups.

            "Five!" 

            The dealer was unconscious under one of the brutes and Sano dusted his hands off as he turned to leave. He placed his hands out to either side and tried to guide himself down the hallway.

            "I am so wasted. It only shoulda taken three seconds to take those guys out. and why the _hell_ is the hallway moving!" He mused to himself as he walked out into the street and the night air.

            Now. If he could only figure out which way was home. God, he was so drunk. He held a pointed finger out in front of him and looked at the four way intersection.

            "Eenie, meenie, miney. you!"

            With that, he stumbled down a particularly dark alleyway singing the Japanese national anthem to himself, horribly off key.

**********

            Where on earth was he? Sano had been wandering around for an hour and a half now and had yet to see anything he recognized. The effects of the sake had worn off and left him with an angry headache. Above him, the moon was halfway through the sky, it must have been about three in the morning, and it was blacker than black all about him.

            Stupid sake. Stupid night. Stupid street that seemed to go on forever towards nowhere in particular!! 

            A cat wailed in reply to his ranting, but besides that, the streets were barren. Shutters were closed tight all around him and not a speck of light from a candle could be seen.

            But suddenly, Sano saw something walking towards him up ahead on the road. He chewed on his fishbone and smiled, hoping it was a thug that was going to make the mistake of attacking him. He had a lot of pent up anger right now, releasing it would do him a world of good.

            But the figure didn't come straight towards him. It kind of weaved from one side of the road aimlessly. Randomly it would stop and stare straight ahead, then look up at the sky and continue on. It was dressed in a white, flowy fabric, and its long black hair waved in the wind.

            It was a woman.

            And not only was it just a woman, but it was.

            "Hey, Megumi!" He yelled, running forward to her. She stopped dead in the center of the road, but did not reply. "Megumi?" He slowed to a walk and brought himself level with her shoulders.

            She just stood there, her lips turned down in a frown and her eyes gazing at something past Sano.

            "Megumi? Hello?" He snapped his fingers in front of her and got no reaction. And then it hit him. "She's. asleep?!" He whispered quietly. 

            Then she began to walk again as if she had gained new purpose. Her steps weren't hurried, they were measured and calm as she traipsed ahead of him. Sano's face registered something akin to shock.

            He was about to run after her and shake her hard, but just before he did, he remembered what Megumi had told him once.

**********

            She had been sitting out by the river one spring day reading a book when he found her. He sat down beside her. "Whatcha reading?" He asked.

            "It's a medical book." She almost snapped without looking up. Sano peered and tried to read over her shoulder. "That's really annoying."

            "Well, so-ree, fox lady. Sleepwalking? 'S that what you're reading about? It doesn't take a genius to figure out how to take care of a sleep-walker, _Doctor_ Fox."

            A smile appeared on Megumi's lips. She shut the book and turned towards Sano. "Oh really? Why don't you tell me how, if you're so smart."

            "All you gotta do is wake 'em up!"

            Megumi laughed. "Baka! If you wake up a sleepwalker they could go into shock! That's the one thing you _never_ wanna do, rooster head." And with that, she turned her back to him and continued her reading.

**********

            Megumi was already almost out of sight when Sano came back from day dreaming. Great. What was he supposed to do now if he couldn't wake her up? He better follow her, just in case something bad happened.

            Sano stayed some ten feet back from her as she drifted up ahead of him. She sure knew how to pick the worst streets to wander down. Sano would have never come this way if it wasn't for her. He hated to think what would be happening to her right now if he hadn't come along and seen her.

            Suddenly, out of one of the dark shadows of the street, a tall, older man approached Megumi, the smell of opium hanging on his clothes. He reached out to touch her face, but she just kept walking.

            "Hey, baby! Wanna come to my hotel room with me? You and I could- oof!" 

            The man never got to finish his sentence because he was suddenly confronted with Sano's fist in his stomach. 

            Obviously, walking behind her wasn't going to work, so Sano ran to catch up with her and tried to act like the two of them were on a stroll together. At three o'clock in the morning. in a dark alleyway. with her only in her nightgown.

            As she rounded the next turn, a group of men came out to meet Megumi and Sano. They sneered at the two as they formed a loose circle around the pair. Megumi stopped and stared up at the sky again, seemingly unaffected by what was going on around her.

            "Lookie here, fellas. Look what we got. A pretty little broad and her boyfriend out on a moonlight stroll. How _romantic_." The leader of the group spat through his teeth as he talked and his friends all gave a little chuckle. "Is this your woman, boy?" He pointed the butt of his knife towards Sano's chest.

            Sano turned scarlet. "Well, not exactly."

            "Your sister?"           

            "Er. no.."

            "Well, then you won't mind us taking her then, will you?" One of the guys grabbed for Megumi's hand.

             Sano remembered all of the times Megumi had assailed him with 'Rooster Head'. This was a difficult decision. Unfortunately, the sake _had_ worn off, and his conscience began to talk to him. "Under any other circumstances, probably not, but. not now...." 

            "What exactly are you planning on doing about it?"

            "Umm. I guess. this!" And with that, punches began to rain down on the stunned men. Within a few seconds, bodies were sprawled out across the street. Sano wiped his brow with the back of his hand and looked around for Megumi. She had already walked away and was just rounding the corner up ahead.

            "Damn it!" He said through clenched teeth and ran to catch up with her. When he got to her, she was standing in the middle of the road again with her eyes closed. That's when Sano took a real good look at what she was wearing.

            Mosquito netting might have covered her better. Her white nightgown, tied with an extremely loose obi, was, well. flapping in the wind in certain places. Her creamy legs and her bare feet made her look like a walking wisp, the front part of her frock gaping open just a bit, not really revealing anything, just teasing the imagination.

           "Kami-sama." Sano breathed as he took off his white jacket and laid it over her shoulders. She seemed to not register the action and continued walking, though after a few minutes she gripped it tight around herself.

            For some time after that, she continued to walk without stopping. Sano had never witnessed a sleepwalker before and was shocked at how. awake they looked.

            But besides that, Where on Earth was she Going?

            She was almost out of the city now, almost to the Kamiya dojo. She was standing on the bridge that spanned the waterway on the south side of Tokyo, staring out across the sky with her blank eyes.

            And then she did the strangest thing.

            Ever so delicately, she placed one hand on the bridge railing, and then another. Then a foot balanced itself on the railing with the other foot following it, until she was standing straight up in the air over the water. Her arms hung limply at her sides and the wind fluttered Sano's jacket about her shoulders.

            Sano felt a wave of fear rush upon him. Quickly, he ran to her side and reached out to grab her, to save her from losing her balance and toppling over into the water below, but she merely shrugged his hand off. And so he watched her with a careful eye, even the _hint_ of a jump would send him flying at her again only to be pushed away.

            She was being suicidal in her sleep? And Sano had always thought _Kaoru _was the weirdest of the bunch.

            For more than five minutes, she stood there like that, completely asleep. Then, in a fluid motion, she jumped down off the bridge and began walking back towards town.

            _Now _where was she going? This wasn't exactly how Sano pictured the rest of his night to turn out, babysitting the Fox Lady. but he continued to follow her all the same. 

            Luckily, all she did was return to her home. Of course, Sano followed her in to make sure she didn't get hold of a kitchen knife or something. But she merely walked quite calmly to her bedroom, laid down on her futon, and pulled the covers up to her chin.

            Well, that was wonderful. Now he could go gamble some more with a guilt-free conscience. He was just tiptoeing to the door when he remembered.

            His jacket.

            Great. That was just _PEACHY._ While he realized his pectoral muscles were fabulous, he couldn't exactly show them off to all the thugs at the gambling joints.He could think of nothing else to do but.

            Slowly, he went over and bent down beside her, hopefully heavy sleeping, form and put his hands under her covers to try to wrestle his jacket away from her. Problem was, she was laying on it. 

            Damn.

            After several minutes of exasperation, he could feel the jacket give way from under her. He was just about to pull it out and remove his hands from her, when.

            "AHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"  
            Sano jumped back and fell against the hardwood floor, hitting his head in the process.

            "BAKA ROOSTER HEAD!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!!"

            Sano rubbed the back of his head with one hand and tried to crack a smile. Megumi had shot up on her futon and was now glaring angrily at him.

            "You're a lot prettier asleep, Fox Lady."     

            Bad move, Sano.

            A string of curse words flew from Megumi's mouth as she picked up anything within her grasp and hurled it at Sano. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITHOUT YOUR SHIRT ON!!" She screamed, as Sano's jacket came flying back towards him. Then, she noticed her gaping clothing. "Eep!" Megumi clutched the white fabric around her. "Call Hajime Saitoh! Someone call the police! I'VE BEEN RAPED!!"

            Sano sprang to his feet, his face more than flustered. "Now wait just a minute, if I wanted to do _that_ I woulda atleast _acted_ like I was interested when you talked."

            "YOU JERK!"

            SMACK. 

            ". Ouch." Sano rubbed the red handprint across his face. Megumi, however, paid no attention.

            "You pig! You horrible, horrible pig!!"

            "HEY!" Sano was getting more than a little tired of being yelled at for no reason. It would have been a different matter if he had actually _done_ anything to her, but for once, he was entirely blameless. "I did NOT touch you! EVER! But I guess that's where doing a good deed gets you."

            "What are you _talking _about?" Megumi's eyes narrowed and her voice grew even again.

            "If you'd lemme talk instead of going nuts on me then I might have been able to explain that I _found_ you wandering around on the street and _followed _you back here to make sure you didn't hurt yourself." He left out the bridge episode. He was still trying to work out what the hell had happened back there.

            For a minute she looked peaceful, then shocked, then a little scared. Maybe she would start crying and Sano would have to comfort her.

            Well he could always hope.

            Unfortunately, her fear only led to more and more anger, which led to extreme amounts of continued yelling. "You BAKA! If you're gonna lie, make up SOMETHING GOOD! I DON'T sleepwalk!!" With that, a porcelain vase came flying towards Sano's crotch and he dodged to the side and out her door, barely avoiding a very painful experience. She was still yelling as he walked away towards the Kamiya dojo

            "Wait 'till Sir Ken hears about THIS!" 

            Sano winced at the thought of what would have happened if he hadn't avoided her throws. "That girl's got damn good aim." He whispered, dragging his feet along in the dirt with his hands in his pockets.

            'Yeah, wait till Kenshin hears about this.' He thought, 'But will he believe it? Do I believe it?' The sun was just starting to rise. Sano silently thanked whoever the heck made it do so, glad this long night had come to an end.

            Of course, another night was only twelve hours away..

THERE! Like it? Hate it? TELL ME! I need reviews to continue, otherwise the buck kinda stops here... hope you enjoyed it, thanks for reading!

[larachan]


	2. chapter 2

Hey minna!! ::hides face in shame at the mention of her last update date:: er…. Sorry!! But I am getting done with this story, so that's good, right? And all of you people that reviewed, you ROCK so much!!! Thankies again! Its because of you that this chapter happened at all (:

Shimizu Hitomi: ::stops dead in tracks:: HITOMI CHAN?!? YAY! You're not mortally wounded nor did you move to a remote island sans internet!! WOW! Long time no type. Yes, it _has_ been a rather long time since I updated Nineteen and it proves to be yet a longer time…….but thanks for the review on this!! I 'preciate it ^_^  
Grrr: Why thankies!! Glad you thought so!  
Monigue: Your wish is my command!! And yes, I agree with you, Meg and Sano do rock, don't they? Thanks for the review!! ^_~  
Lana: thanks so much!! Glad you liked it and I hope this chapter meets your expectations.

hanyouwolf: thanks! Its good to hear you thought it funny! Yesh, any time that Sano gets into more trouble than he can handle always makes _me_ happy ^^  
Sekihoutaionna/Jou-chan: Hehe, thanks for the review!! Yes, I don't wanna imagine what Sano might look like after Kenshin got a hold of him. Hope you like this chapter!!  
SweeMisery49: Thanks! Hope this chapter lives up to the last one!! ^_^  
The Silly Koneko: thanks for the review!! Hehe, if you were wondering, the reasoning behind Megumi calling for Saitoh was that she would have wanted to piss Sano off as much as she could. So I asked myself, what would Sano really hate? The woman he might have romantic feelings for calling out to his sworn enemy, that's what! Just in case you were wondering how I got that ^__^  
Dinkydaelf- hehe, your reviews ALWAYS make me smile, you know that? Thanks so much for this one!! ^_^ Oh, and I have the next chapter of Nineteen ready to go. If you want a sneak peek of it before I post it next week, feel free to email me at LoudaZ116@aol.com

Kitsune101: thanks for the nice review! Yesh, I'm always up for Sano getting yelled at, because, well, he _is_ Sano and he usually deserves it. Hope you like this chappie!!  
Adrenaline Shockwave: Thanks muchos!! I hope you'll stick around and read this last installment of my little ficcie ^.^  
Shadow's Assassin: Your wish is my command! Glad you liked it!!  
Mushi-azn: Awww, thank you SO much!! WOOT, someone like my writing style!! That's freaking EXCITING!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! hope you like this chapter too!!  
CluelessAznGurl: hehe, thanks! Hope you've stuck around to read chapter 2!!  
Kitsune-blue: why, thankies!! Glad you liked it and hope you like this chapter too!!  
  


On with the STORY!!

**Warning- fluff, fluff, fluff, fluff alert!!  
**Disclaimer: All characters or ideas affiliated with _Rurouni Kenshin, Wandering Samurai_ or other characters created by Nobohiro Watsuki belong to the aforementioned Shueshia, Shonen Jump, and Sony Entertainment. Permission was not obtained by these entities. This is a not-for-profit entertainment piece. 

            He had waited all day for her to come and tell Kenshin & Kaoru about their nightly encounter so that he could get smacked over the head with a bokken…. But she hadn't come. In fact, Dr. Genzai had told him that Megumi hadn't even shown up for work that day… 

            The sun had set a couple of hours ago, it was nearing midnight.

            If he were smart, he'd pull the covers over his head and go to sleep.

            Too bad Sano never prided himself on his amazing brains……

            He sighed. For some reason, he just couldn't get the fox out of his mind. Why couldn't he stop thinking about her? 'Oh, that's right,' He mentally chided himself, 'It's because she goes on weird moonlit strolls and tries to COMMIT SUICIDE.' Well, he was never gonna get any sleep _this_ way…

            He grabbed his white jacket from the one western chair in his little house and casually strolled towards the door, trying to convince himself that he was merely being _chivalrous_ and didn't give half a fishbone as to what happened to the girl.

            Too bad Sano never prided himself on his lying ability, either…..

           "Now," he said aloud as he walked down the darkened street with his hands in his pockets, "If I were a crazy, sleepwalking fox, where would I be?"

********  
            Obviously, he was not, nor could he think like, a 'crazy sleepwalking fox'.  Sano had been walking around downtown Tokyo calling out Megumi's name for about two hours now with no results.  When he had checked her house about an hour ago, she still wasn't home, but there were a set of footprints leading out of her door and away into the night. Unfortunately, they ended some 100 feet away from her front door.  Maybe she had circled around and was now safe at home, asleep in her own bed?

            Well, a guy could hope, couldn't he?

            At any rate, there was no sense wandering around without reason. Sano would just have to go home and try to sort things out in the morning….

            It was a good thirty minutes walk to Sano's house, and when he caught sight of it off in the distance, he was more than relieved.

            But, as he got closer,

            He saw someone leaning against his door frame, their black hair playing a game of tag with the wind. 

            Sano began to run towards her, happy that Megumi was unharmed. But when he reached her, he noticed the glazed over appearance of her eyes and he let out his fiftieth sigh for that night. So, she was still asleep. But what was she doing _here_ of all places?

            Sano waved a hand in front of her unblinking eyes. She tilted her head to the side a bit, but other than that, she merely stood there in Sano's door…

            This wouldn't have made Sano so angry if Megumi hadn't been acting as a breathing road block.

            Great. So Sano was being kept out of his house and away from his warm, fluffy futon by the fox doctor….   Who had the ability to annoy the hell out of him even in her sleep. 

            For a few seconds, the two of them stood there and stared into each other's eyes, Sano's twitching eyebrow and angry expression, and Megumi's placid deer-in-the-headlights impersonation.

            Then, quite briskly, Megumi turned without a word and began ambling down the street. 

            "Yes!" Sano almost shouted. "Futon, my friend, here I come!" he took one step towards the door.

            And then he stopped, turning his head to look after the disappearing Megumi.

            Damn. Why did he have to be such a wonderful person? 

            And with that thought, he ran to catch up with her, laying his jacket over her shoulders just like the night before.

**********

            By this time, Sano was getting quite accustomed to making small talk with someone who was more of a zombie than a human.

            "Ya know, Fox, I don't even have to be here. You owe me one, big time. And I do mean, you _owe_ me one."

            He paused in conversation as if waiting for Megumi to answer.

            …………

            "Ok, ok, sorry I mentioned it! No sexual favors, fine…"

            ………..

            "Yeah, I agree. You are _MUCH_ sweeter when you're asleep."

            …………

            "Oh, giving me the silent treatment, huh Fox? That's real mature of you…"

            ………..

            And so it continued like this for about thirty more minutes, Sano holding a perfectly coherent conversation, while Megumi silently ambled along at his side. And before long, Sano found himself opening up to the sleeping, mute Megumi.

            "I-its not that I don't find you attractive…" He heard himself saying. "I mean, _you're_ the one who keeps putting me off…" 

            'Why am I saying this?' He thought. 'Thank Kami she can't understand me…'

            ………..

            "I mean, you're a very pretty woman, you know?"

            ………..

            Suddenly, Megumi stopped. Sano jumped, thinking that maybe she had come out of her sleep, but her eyes were still glazed heavily. Then, he noticed where they were. Both of them were standing on the bridge where Megumi had stood on the railing the night before. 

            And ever so gingerly, just as she had the night before, she lifted herself up onto the railing and stood ramrod straight. 

            Sano leaned his arms on the railing and stared up at her.  Her white shift wavered in the wind and her hair ran across her face, concealing it from his view as she stared out across the rushing river below her. Kami, she was gorgeous. 

            For a minute, Sano let the silence settle. Then, he began to speak again. "I… I just wish you could tell me why you're doing this."

            At the sound of his voice, Megumi whipped her head around and stared into Sano's eyes, almost as if she was awake. She opened her mouth to speak, to cry, and her voice came out hoarse. "O-opium." As she said it, her arms rose at her sides like angel's wings and she closed her eyes.

            Then, she leaned forward.

            And fell.

            "Megumi!" Sano yelled after her as he watched her white form plummet towards the water.

            She was 10 feet above the water now. 

            Now five feet. Kami, why was this taking so long? It was as if the whole world was suddenly in slow motion.

            Now three feet. That's when Megumi snapped out of her sleep. Her scream pierced the night, "Saaaaan-"

            She went under.

            Recalling the episode at a later date, Sano would always comment on how amazing the human body is. Sometimes, it just does things without thinking, without even being told.

            He jumped. He jumped before he knew what he was doing, and only in the air did he realize that he was falling. But it didn't matter, he had to find her. 

            The water was cold on his bare chest. He fought to keep his head above it and yelled her name. "MEGUMI!!" No answer came. He yelled again with the same results.

            The river was strong, carrying him to destination unknown.

            What if she was halfway down the river by now?

            What if she was being tossed by the undercurrents at the bottom of the river?

            A million scenarios flashed through his mind, each one worse than the one before.  He dove under the water and tried to scan the bottom for any trace of her.

            After a few seconds he caught sight of something white at the bottom of the riverbed. The current was flowing strongly and he fought with it to dive deeply downwards. It was her, her white shift in tatters. She was wedged between two rocks and looked unconscious, but Sano didn't see any blood anywhere and took that as a good sign.

            Silently he prayed to himself, hoped she wasn't….

            He couldn't think about it. He had to work fast. Inserting his hands behind her back and at her waist, he tried to pry her out from between the rocks and save her skin from getting scraped. As a result, the rocks gashed his hands and the water directly in front of him began to turn murky and red with the heaviness of his blood. 

            But she was free. Sano wrapped a hand around her waist and kicked his way back up to the surface, holding her head above water.

            Now, how to get out of the river? 

            With the remainder of his strength, he fought the current over to the sloped banks and struggled to pull them both out of the water. He laid her down on the young spring grass and pressed his ear to her chest.

            "Thank Kami…" her heartbeat was slow, but it was still there.

            Megumi's lips were serenely smiling, her wet hair plastered to her face and head. She was possibly lovelier than Sano had ever seen her.  

            "Megumi," He touched her shoulder lightly with one hand and caressed her face with the other. "Megumi, please, please wake up…" 

            No response.

            "Megumi, please…!"

            And then, slowly, her fluttery butterfly lashes opened. Relief flooded Sano. Her eyes widened and she sprung up to a sitting position, which caused all of the water in her lungs to shift and made her start coughing violently. She fell forward in to Sano's chest, wheezing and hacking.

            Sano encircled his arms around her now shaking frame, rubbing circles into her back until the coughing ceased. 

            Her shoulders shuddered again. "S…Sano… I-" As soon as she started to talk, the coughing came back.

            "Shh…." Sano tried to stop her shivering by pressing her harder against him. For a few seconds, silence pervaded. Then, she began to cry.

            "Sano, I…. I… thank you…" Her crying had dissipated to a trickle of tears now.

            "Mgumi, what is going on with you? Right before you jumped, you said,"

            "Don't say it!" Megumi shoved herself away from Sano and turned her back to him.

            "Megumi,"

            "Don't you think I know what I said!" She screamed between coughs, her eyebrows twisted into a frown. Megumi threw her hands towards Sano to push him, but he caught them in his own and jerked her towards his chest again. "Lemme go!" She beat her fists upon his chest. Sano tightened his grip about her.

            "I said let me go! Get off of me! I don't need you to tell me what I've done!" She continued saying these things until finally, she began to quiet down. Her yell softened to a plea and then mingled with her gasping tears. Megumi buried her face in Sano's shoulder and kept repeating 'get off of me, get off of me,' as she laced her arms around his neck and pulled him tightly to her.

            "I won't."

            "D-don't you know what I am, Sano? I'm an opium dealer… No one will ever love me. I don't- deserve it…"

            "Megumi!" At this, he shrugged her face off his shoulder and grabbed it in his hands, forcing her to look at him. "How can you say that? I love you!" 

            And he did.  He'd just never fully realized it until faced with the possibility of losing her.

            "Oh, Sano, I-" 

            "Shh."

            And with that, he lightly placed his lips over hers, a sweet angel's kiss. 

            Her cheeks turned rosy in the moonlight.

            She fell back in to his chest. "Sano, don't let me go."

            "I won't. You don't have to fall any more. I'm here."

            FIN

**********  
ACK! FUZZINESS!!! Hopefully this little two-chappie one shot got it all outta my system and I can go back to writing action scenes where people get their asses kicked, ne?

Well, that's all folks!!! Did you like it? Hated it? Choking on the sheer fuzzy-ness of it all?? *me too* TELL ME!!! Pweeeese? Reviews are MUCH appreciated as are flames because they make me laugh!!  
**LOOK FOR AN UPDATE ON ****PARADISE**** BEFORE SUNDAY!!** Thanks guys!!

Thanks for reading this far, minna!!  
  


[larachan]

oo, and if you get bored and wanna read some KK fluff, hop on over to my three-chapter story, PARADISE!! Or my KK one shot, MOON TEARS!! Arigatou for the time! ^___^ Ja!


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